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Tag: NXT

  • A journey through NXT’s big weekend at the Arnold Classic

    Images c/o @WWENXT & @JJWilliamsWON

    In case you missed it, WWE’s NXT Experience was part of this past weekend’s Arnold Classic at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, OH, for the second straight year. A good portion of the NXT crew and coaching staff along with WWE Champion, COO, and NXT head Triple H himself were there to promote the brand over the two days which featured in-ring action, Q&A sessions, and even a portion of a tryout camp. 

    Day one’s highlight was HHH sharing a big surprise with us: Arnold Schwarzenegger himself.

    They spoke about fitness, inspiration, and made plenty of jokes. During the Q&A session, there were a few fans who tried to ask storyline questions about WrestleMania, and Roman Reigns, which lead to the champ being as confident as only he can be, smiling and holding the WWE Championship up. The ringside area filled up during this session which truly felt like a big deal.

    The crowd itself was nothing like you get at your usual wrestling show as it was calmer than the rest of the Expo as most people (casual observers and families alike) were just enjoying watching the action. As one would expect, the biggest hits were Women’s champion Bayley, NXT Champion Finn Balor, and fan favorite Sami Zayn. Their autograph lines went hundreds deep, and their matches were fan interactive with many fun house show-esque spots to get everyone into the fun of wrestling. 

    Day 1 Results (matches happened throughout the day):

    • Apollo Crews beat Dylan Miley
    • Billie Kay beat Amanda 
    • Johnny Gargano beat Riddick Moss
    • NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Emma in a title match
    • American Alpha beat The Vaudevillains
    • NXT Champion Finn Balor beat Baron Corbin in a title match
    • Tye Dillinger beat Tino Sabbatelli
    • Eva Marie beat Peyton Royce
    • NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival beat King Constantine and Thomas Kingdon 
    • Asuka beat Alexa Bliss
    • Kishan Raftar beat Dan Matha
    • Nia Jax beat Billie Kay
    • Apollo Crews beat Riddick Moss
    • Tye Dillinger beat Johnny Gargano
    • American Alpha beat NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival via DQ
    • Peyton Royce beat Alexa Bliss
    • Sami Zayn beat Samoa Joe

    Day two (Sunday) had a much calmer vibe in the hall as the autograph lines were shorter, the matches had a little more time, and we spent a good portion of the afternoon with the coaches watching the tryout athletes. From what we could gather, a few were previously trained wrestlers, one big man was a power lifter, and there was a few other athletes from around the world.

    The process was fascinating to watch up close. I tried to pay more attention to William Regal during most of it as Jason Albert was running the drills. Regal had even said the day before that he watches footwork as anyone who watched Breaking Ground knows for certain.

    Our special in ring Q&A guest for Sunday was Mark Henry who spoke to Dasha Fuentes about his career, powerlifting, and his future. He spoke about NXT being developmental and said he was, in fact, WWE’s first developmental wrestler as he was signed before knowing how to wrestle in a time when the company hadn’t brought in guys like that before. 

    When asked about who he would have liked to face from history, he told a story about how Andre The Giant once picked him up off the floor at a live event and his dream match would have been against him. As for the future, Apollo Crews is who he said he would like to break in. When asked about WrestleMania and potentially being in the Andre Memorial Battle Royal, Mark said he wouldn’t want to be in it if he wasn’t going to win. It was a very good session as Mark Henry is one of those quality men who can be a WWE spokesman for as long as he wants. 

    Day 2 Results (again, matches went all day):

    • Apollo Crews beat Tino Sabbatelli
    • Chad Gable beat Riddick Moss
    • Aiden English w/ Simon Gotch & Dan Matha went to a no contest and was re-started as a tag match when Dylan Miley joined the mix
    • Dylan Miley and Dan Matha beat The Vaudevillains
    • Tye Dillinger beat Kishan Raftar
    • NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Nia Jax w/ Eva Marie
    • Jason Jordan beat Johnny Gargano
    • Apollo Crews beat Riddick Moss
    • Billie Kay beat Alexa Bliss
    • Chad Gable w/ Jason Jordan beat Scott Dawson w/ Dash Wilder
    • Asuka and Peyton Royce beat Emma and Amanda
    • NXT Champion Finn Balor and Sami Zayn beat Samoa Joe and Baron Corbin

    Overall, this was a fun weekend and was something that any NXT fan who has only seen the stars on TV should try to attend next year. It’s an affordable chance to see wrestling and have a chance to get up close with your favorites. They even implied that the event will be even bigger next year as this HHH and Schwarzenegger partnership has been beneficial to both sides. 

  • NXT Columbus, OH, live results: Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe; Bayley vs. Emma

    Image: JJ Williams

    I’m here at the Arnold Classic for the NXT show in Columbus, Ohio tonight in front of a sold-out house. 

    Asuka beat Alexa Bliss 

    Big reaction for Asuka and also a good one for the hometown girl Bliss. This was all Asuka, nailing the Yes Kicks and finally applying the Asuka Lock for the submission.

    Johnny Gargano and Tomaso Ciampa beat The Vaudevillains

    The Vaudevillains were obviously the heels tonight. There was a lot of ‘Johnny Wrestling’ chants and the match built to a hot tag. The big finish saw Johnny as the legal man get the pin after double low angle superkicks on Gotch.

    Apollo Crews beat Tye Dillinger 

    Dillinger’s first match back from injury got a great reaction then he did some heel mic work pre match to give Apollo a big entrance. Very good match including NXT chants from the crowd. Big Apollo Slam for the win.

    Eva Marie and Nia Jax beat Billie Kay and Peyton Royce 

    Major heat on Eva. Nia hit a big Samoan Drop and allowed Eva to get the pin. 

    Sami Zayn beat Baron Corbin 

    Great reactions for both in their own ways as Baron soaks in the booos and Sami is beloved. Slow start to the match with Baron winning a test of strength, then hitting some great looking punches with Sami just making the count of ten. Big fired up comeback by Zayn including a dive off the entrance way a blue thunder bomb and after nearly connecting once before, hits the Helluva Kick for the win. 

    GM William Regal welcomes us back from intermission and speaks highly of the roster. An NXT chant leads to him giving us what we want, more NXT action. 

    NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival beat American Alpha 

    Excellent match. The heels used the ring and worked the ref to keep Gable isolated until the big hot tag to Jordan. As per usual, Jason Jordan has the best hot tag in wrestling. The straps came down, then went back up, then back down. That’s how wild he ran. Suplexes, dropkicks, backdrops. Alpha had Revival set up for the German yet Dash held Jordan’s feet, then pulled Jordan out of the ring and held Gable’s feet during a sit out pin by Dawson to steal the win. Post match, we had “Yay – Booo” spots when the champs and challengers lifted their arms. 

    NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Emma 

    Superstar reaction for Bayley. Emma got a lot of punishment in early and the crowd just chanted and sang for Bayley. Good action here with Bayley firing up after refusing to feel the pain of being rammed in to the turn buckle padding. Belly To Bayley for the win. 

    NXT Champion Finn Balor beat Samoa Joe 

    Huge reactions for both men, dueling chants at times. Finn took a lot of punishment from the big man. These two always work great together. Finn hit the running dropkick and the Bloody Sunday ddt for the win. No top rope stomp tonight. Post match, Finn celebrated with the crowd and put up the gun sign.

  • WWE books NXT tag title match for Roadblock Network special

    On tonight’s episode of NXT on WWE Network, it was announced that NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) will defend their titles against Enzo Amore & Big Cass on Saturday, March 12th at the Roadblock Network show from Toronto, Canada.

    The match had been rumored for a few weeks, and would be the main roster major show debut for both teams. (Enzo and Cass have been appearing on WWE house shows recently.)

    The two teams have wrestled numerous times and done a number of angles with the latest being a parking lot attack by Dash & Dawson that aired last week on NXT television. Dash and Dawson have held the titles since October when they beat the Vaudevillians to become the company’s eighth tag team champions.

    The Roadblock show will be headlined by WWE Champion HHH vs. Dean Ambrose, and will be the company’s final major show before Wrestlemania weekend which also features a big Friday night NXT Takeover show in Dallas, TX.

  • WWE, Evolve, and WWN’s relationship continues to develop

    On Monday, the relationship between WWE, WWN, and Evolve Wrestling continued to develop as WWN announced that NXT General Manager William Regal will appear at Evolve’s next two shows in New York.

    He will be available for pictures and autographs at both the March 19th event in Queens, NY, and the following night in Brooklyn. Regal will have an undisclosed role at both shows as well.

    Regal first made an appearance at the Evolve 54 show in Orlando, held the same weekend as the Royal Rumble, where he helped set up the Evolve title match between Timothy Thatcher and former UFC fighter Matt Riddle, who WWE is said to be interested in. It’s fair to assume that Regal would be looking at talent for the Global Cruiserweight series scheduled to take place on the WWE Network this summer.

    WWN also announced that a WWE representative will be on hand at the WWN Seminar/Tryout on March 31st in Dallas in conjunction with WrestleCon. The group will also be running three shows that weekend.

  • NXT Sebring, FL, live results: NXT Women’s title fatal four-way; Apollo Crews vs. Manny Andrade shines

    Approximate attendance: 200

    Mojo Rawley beat Alexander Wolfe

    Similar match to last night with a big front slam and a running punch for the win by Rawley.

    Peyton Royce beat Liv Morgan

    A lot of athletic moves by Liv who looked great even in defeat. Peyton locked in her submission and won.

    Elias Samson beat Patrick Clark

    A lot of heat on Samson, heckling and booing down his pre match song. This match was all Drifter. Won with his neck breaker.

    Noah Kekoa and Josh Woods beat BAMF (Blake & Murphy)

    Woods worked the arm of each Blake and Murphy in this one, showing some impressive amateur skills. The heels took control until Noah got the big hot tag, ran wild with arm drags and during a scuffle, he was able to roll up Murphy to steal a win. BAMF were losing their minds as they got outwrestled by two newcomers.

    Apollo Crews beat Manny Andrade

    Excellent match. This was one of Apollo’s best in NXT and Manny won over another town by being incredible. Big spots included fast running the ropes, dropkicks, a Manny moonsault, and Apollo’s huge spinning power bomb slam for the win. Post-match, Apollo shook Manny’s hand to show respect.

    NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival (Dash/Dawson) beat Tucker Knight and Rich Swann

    Swann took a beating in this match, suffering double team attacks and heel cheating to keep the advantage for the Revival at all times. Tucker got a big hot tag, yet wasn’t enough to beat the champions. After some big moves and running wild, Swann was tagged back in, but Knight was sidestepped so he hit the post on the outside. The Revival hit the Shatter Machine on Swann for the win.

    – In ring promo with Angelo Dawkins. He wants to be called The Curse Of Greatness. Crowd wasn’t responding much to his antics.

    Chris Girard vs Sawyer Fulton went to a no contest

    Girard was busted open on a dive to the outside.

    NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Alexa Bliss, Emma, and Asuka in a fatal four way match

    This match was to tease a lot of Bayley vs. Asuka without giving too much away, Alexa and Emma took most of the punishment. Asuka was laying in kicks on everyone. At one point, all four were on the mat throwing punches at one another in a circle. Emma had her submission on Alexa for a near finish and Bayley broke up that attempt. Alexa tried to take the fight to Asuka which was a big mistake. Action broke down and Bayley was able to hit the Belly to Bayley for the big win to send everyone home happy.

  • NXT Largo, FL, live results: Revival vs. American Alpha in TakeOver preview

    NXT is in Largo tonight for a sold out show. Approximately 250 in attendance.

    Mojo Rawley beat Alexander Wolfe

    People were, in fact, hyped for Mojo. Everyone was cheering and encouraging his antics. Wolfe gets the “wienerschnitzel” chant to mock him, and allows Mojo to taunt him as well. Mojo hit his usual running spots and picked up the win.

    Emma beat Aliyah

    All Emma here, won it with the Emma Lock.

    Levis Valenzuela beat Alex Riley

    Levis hit the windup punch for the win.

    Sami Zayn beat Manny Andrade

    Excellent match that on par with their recent first encounter in Tampa. Everything these two do is crisp and smooth; just brilliant wrestling. This was all what you’d expect: teased dives, a moonsault from Manny into a standing moonsault when Sami rolled back. Zayn hits the Exploder and Helluva Kick for the win.

    The Vaudevillains beat Kenneth Crawford and Patrick Clark

    The Vaudevillains entered to their face music despite being the heels against the fresh new faces of Clark and Crawford. A few athletic hope spots yet it was mostly a showcase for the Vauds.

    Apollo Crews beat Angelo Dawkins

    This was an entertaining match. As per usual, Dawkins was jaw jacking with no one in particular. Apollo snatched his headband to taunt him. Some strong man slow lift spots by Crews, followed by his firy comeback to set up the win with his big slam.

    – Chris Girard in-ring promo. He says he’s been a professional wrestler for 8 years and now he’s an NXT Superstar. He let us know he is the best wrestler here and vows to be champion.

    NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Nia Jax

    Slow paced match with Nia methodically working over Bayley, save for the ocassional hope spots. Nia used the over the top shoulder breaker, The Rock’s old finisher. At one point, Bayley ended up on Nia’s shoulders in the doomsday position and was able to roll forward to the mat and win via roll up.

    NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival beat American Alpha

    This was a good tune up for the NXT Dallas show. They did all the expected spots and of course, they built to a Jason Jordan hot tag. He ran wild, dropped the straps, took care of both men, and set up the assisted German suplex on Dash. But, Dawson held Gable’s feet from the outside which allowed Dash to fall on Gable and steal the pin.

    Post-match, the entire locker room met The Revival in the entrance way, threw them back in the ring, surrounded the ring and pounded on the mat while the two teams had an intense staredown and brawl that finished with stereo ankle locks applied by Jordan and Gable. The locker room left as American Alpha celebrated.

  • NXT Orlando, FL, live results: Finn Balor & Bayley vs. Samoa Joe & Nia Jax

    NXT is at the Orlando National Guard Armory tonight in front of a sell out crowd of approximately 400.

    Apollo Crews beat Manny Andrade

    Good match, Manny was the heel tonight and tried to work holds. Traded some athletic rope running and Apollo hit a big dropkick. Manny appeared at Apollo’s level even in defeat. Apollo hit the big spinning slam for the win.

    Liv Morgan and Aliyah beat Peyton Royce and Billie Kay

    The heels got the heat on Aliyah to build the Liv hot tag. She was fired up, hit a lot of running offense of her own, got Aliyah involved and suplexed Aliyah on to the fallen opponent before positioning herself for a standing moonsault for the win. Good showing for Liv Morgan tonight.

    Levis Valenzuela beat Chris Girard

    Girard wore down Levis with his intense and aggressive style. Plenty of holds and growls. Levis wound up and nailed Chris with a Fiesta Fireball punch.

    – In-ring promo with Hugo Knox who was heelish tonight in a stylish suit. Was not dancing tonight.

    American Alpha beat BAMF, The Vaudevillains, and Enzo & Cass

    This was a fatal four way elimination match for the right to face The Revival tomorrow night in Largo. Simon Gotch got the pin Enzo Amore for fall one. Fall two saw Jason Jordan run wild after a hot tag and defeated Alden English to eliminate The Vaudevillains. About a minute later, American Alpha hit the assisted German Suplex on Murphy for the win and the right to face the champions tomorrow night.

    Emma beat Daria

    A couple MMA style comebacks with Daria shooting the legs for takedowns yet this was mostly Emma. She won it with the Emma Lock. After the win re-applied the hold until Asuka made the save. Asuka took care of Emma then checked on Daria.

    Sami Zayn beat Elias Samson

    Crowd was vicious towards The Drifter tonight. Causing him to think on the fly being heckled during his song. Sami got the reaction of the night. Long match, a lot of Drifter rest holds until Sami’s big comeback and win via exploder suplex and jellies kick.

    NXT Champion Finn Balor and NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Samoa Joe and Nia Jax

    Some crisp action from Joe and Finn in spurts to tune up for Dallas. These two are great together, Nia tries to wear down Bayley yet could never quite keep her grounded. At one point in a brilliant spot Nia Jax set up for the People’s Elbow then stopped short and just pulled Bayley up by her hair. Finn got the hot tag and nailed the Bloody Sunday on Joe for the win.

    During the post match celebration Bayley took the mic and asked what “Finn 3:16” means? Finn responded by talking in a shy child voice with “… Finn 3:16 means… May I have this dance?” the lights went low, and Time Of Our Lives started playing, they slow danced at a distance like a middle school prom. Then Bayley went in to the corner, ran towards Finn who lifted her up in the air then back down in to a hug. Everyone was going wild.

  • WWE NXT results: Great matches made for the future, okay matches happen in the present

    It’s a show where the future sounded so much better than the present. Bayley and Carmella team up to battle Eva Marie and Nia Jax. Plus, what will Mr. William Regal have to say about the controversial finish to the #1 contender’s match last week?

    • The Big News: Samoa Joe will wrestle Sami Zayn in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match in 2 weeks.
    • The Medium News: Finn Balor will wrestle Neville next week
    • The Little Beaver Sized News: A brand new star will also debut next week.
    • The News Even Smaller Than Little Beaver: On the show that actually aired this week, Eva Marie won the tag team main event, pinning Carmella.

    American Alpha defeated Blake & Murphy

    38 days away from NXT Takeover and we kick things off with American Alpha. We are still at the CFE Arena in the University of Central Florida, for the third week here. The fans still liked Jordan & Gable, but this was already the second time they saw them, so it wasn’t as much love as before. Plus this was minutes after the Samoa Joe-Sami Zayn match that aired last week, so the fans were kind of tired.

    Gable was single handedly destroying both Blake and Murphy. Jordan tagged in long enough for a double dropkick, but other than that the first half of the match was just Gable schooling both men. We went to commercial and came back with Jordan in control. It took almost 7 minutes, but the heels finally cut off Gable for the heat after using double team shenanigans.

    Blake and Murphy continue to work good together. Jordan got the hot tag and hit several suplexes on both men. The good guys picked up the win with Grand Amplitude.

    – After the double pin finish from last week, Mr. William Regal announced a 2 out of 3 Falls match with Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn in 2 weeks. He also announced that a brand new talent would debut next week.

    – Sawyer Fulton sang while “highlights” of his matches aired. He can still be boring even in highlight form.

    Apollo Crews pinned Christopher Girard

    Apollo Crews is back. He has become so directionless since losing at Takeover: London. That loss was such a big deal. Girard looked good in his NXT debut, but the announcers were pointing out his size (or lack thereof) as they said he wasn’t much bigger than Gillberg.

    This was not just a squash match, as Girard got a full entrance and had a competitive match with Crews before going down in defeat. Crews hit his toss Powerbomb to pick up the win.

    – Bayley and Carmella were backstage with Alex, who called them “Baymella”, which was gag worthy. Bayley put over her partner and Carmella said one day she is coming back for the championship. Bayley was happy Asuka helped out, but it’s obvious she’s coming after the championship.

    – Earlier this week, Enzo Amore arrived at the WWE Performance Center when he was attacked by Dash & Dawson. It was shot purely with security cameras, so it looked grainy and definitely not HD, but it looked more real.

    Tommaso Ciampa submitted Bull Dempsey in a Loser Goes To WrestleCon Match

    Actually the winner may be there too, I haven’t checked the list lately.

    Bull needed the referee’s help to get his shirt off because it was so tight. Ciampa was not amused. Dempsey was content to do jumping jacks, as opposed to sports entertaining, so Ciampa made him pay for it. At one point it looked like Dempsey hit the Bossman Slam, but Bull was the one selling, so they sold it like Bull’s shoulder was hurt. It reminds me of Spike Dudley’s Acid Drop where you didn’t know if he hit the move half the time until someone sold it.

    Ciampa won with a rolling armbar. At least Bull lost. You might recall Kassius Ohno started getting a pretty good push after he was released.

    – Samoa Joe cut a promo saying he made NXT hot just by being here. It’s a shame for Sami Zayn to get beaten on for 2 falls instead of 1. Alex then asked Sami Zayn about it. Zayn said he’s been in plenty of 2 out of 3 Falls matches and he’s ready to do what he’s gotta do to become a 2-time NXT Champion.

    Nia Jax & Eva Marie defeated NXT Women’s Champion Bayley & Carmella

    Main event time! These four ladies have been in each others way going back to November when Bayley wrestled Eva Marie for the first time ever. This continued through Takeover, into the battle royal last month and Carmella’s title match 2 weeks ago.

    For everyone that has such high hopes that WWE’s Diva Division is going to get a total makeover, just remember that Eva Marie is still pegged as the next breakout Diva.

    The faces schooled Eva, who screamed for Nia’s help. I want to point out, in the interest of fairness, that Eva has improved ever so slightly. She used to show absolutely no expression during the match and at least now she yells in pain while selling. That’s a step up..

    Nia stayed in the match as much as possible, tagging Eva in for very specific spots and moments, things she couldn’t mess up. Bayley got the hot tag, which woke the crow up and did her entire comeback on Eva.

    Bayley had the match won with the Belly to Bayley, but Nia dragged Bayley off and headbutted her. Carmella tagged in and it became the Nia Jax Show. Nia attacked Carmella, gave a body attack to Bayley and dragged Eva over to her corner for the tag. Nia hit three legdrops on Carmella before Eva tagged herself in and got the pin!

    – The show ended with Rich Brennan interviewing William Regal and Finn Balor. Mr. Regal told Finn that he is closing in on the record for longest reigning NXT Champion. mr. regal finished the show by telling Finn that next week he will face the longest reigning NXT Champion ever….Neville! That should be one amazing match and we have two straight weeks of amazing matches coming up.

    But until next time, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!

  • NXT Albany, NY, live results: Finn Balor & Austin Aries vs. Baron Corbin & Samoa Joe

    Report by Jonathan Leung, thank you also to John Gugarty and Jim Caldwell.

    I attended tonight’s NXT show in Albany. Crowd size, at least visually, seemed significantly bigger than their show last May. The wait to get into the Armory was wrapped around at least a few blocks.

    Both the merchandise and food stands were immediately packed upon entry, which pushed the scheduled 7:30 PM belltime back a few minutes. Ring announcer Dasha Fuentes talked with a few fans and held a contest to see who knew the most NXT trivia.

    Asuka beat Eva Marie with the Asuka Lock

    Asuka got a good reaction while Eva Marie got her usual big time heat. Eva Marie looked a bit lost at times and her timing wasn’t the greatest, but it was a fine opener.

    Apollo Crews beat Alex Riley with the Backdrop Powerbomb

    Decent to good match. The crowd liked Crews and his impressive moves, but he seems to be missing that special something right now.

    Carmella beat Peyton Royce with the Headscissors Choke

    Carmella was over, but the match was pretty subpar to be honest. Royce’s offense was very basic.

    Enzo & Big Cass beat the Vaudevillains with the Rocket Launcher on Aiden English

    Really good tag match that got the “This is Awesome” chant towards the end. Enzo & Big Cass were over huge and the Vaudevillains played good heels. Both teams should get a shot on the main roster.

    Intermission

    Sami Zayn beat Elias Samson with the Helluva Kick

    Samson is not good at all. Crowd didn’t like him, his offense was basic, and he blew an over-the-top-rope spot pretty badly. On the other hand, Zayn did everything he could to make it watchable and keep the crowd engaged. A one man show in every sense of the word. Probably the best performance of the night.

    NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Alexa Bliss with the Bayley-to-Bayley to retain

    Good match. Bayley was unsurprisingly super over and the crowd sang some of the usual support songs for her. Bliss had some nice moments in the match, including a backflip double knee drop and a sunset flip bomb out of the corner that got nice applause. Bayley though was the star and just connects with the crowd like almost nobody in NXT.

    NXT Champion Finn Balor & Austin Aries beat Baron Corbin & Samoa Joe when Balor pinned Corbin with the Bloody Sunday.

    Big reactions for all four. Corbin got good heel heat and not the “You can’t wrestle” heat he had last time in Albany. A methodical pace to start, but things picked up towards the end. Aries seemed on a mission to impress from the get go. Balor sold the ankle after a double stop, but overall seemed like he was close to 100%.

    Fun post main event ending as Balor gave props to Aries, Zayn, Carmella, Enzo, and Big Cass. He then said he was looking for someone and went around ringside and the entrance way, then to the back. Over the mic, he asked Enzo, Big Cass, Carmella, and Zayn if they saw the person he was looking for and they all said no in their own unique ways…

    …which led to a spotlight being shown on Bayley at the entrance way. Balor then came out in Bayley gear to her entrance music and inflatable tube men theatrics. They both got in the ring where Bayley took off her jacket to reveal a Balor Club shirt. Bayley jokingly told Balor how cute he was and asked him what Finn 3:16 was. Balor said that Finn 3:16 says that I just hugged your ass and he proceeded to hug tackle Bayley to the ground to a big pop. The two then greeted fans at ringside to end things.

    Overall, a good show and a really cool way to end things. I’ve been a number of WWE live events around NY in the past few years and there hasn’t been any of the post-match antics that have occured in the past or in other cities. It was basically all business and drive home safely. You can’t help but notice that NXT is such a different and fun environment.

  • NXT Asbury Park, NJ live results: Samoa Joe & Baron Corbin vs Finn Balor & Sami Zayn

    Submitted by Brandon Cornett

    Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss

    Good opening match. Back and forth at the start, with Asuka obviously being the unstoppable force in the ring. Bliss would roll out of the ring, however, and eventually catch Asuka. She then began to get the heat for the match. As Asuka’s comeback began, Alexa slapped her much like Diana Pirazzo did this past week on the show. The crowd responded with a “You F*cked Up Chant”. Asuka eventually hooked the Asuka Lock and won.

    Apollo Crews vs. Alex Riley

    Perhaps the match that the crowd was least interested in. It went on for a bit, and while it wasn’t a bad match, it did not do much to captures the attention of the crowd. Apollo defeated Riley with his Powerbomb finisher.

    Carmella vs. Peyton Royce

    Carmella came out to a huge ovation from the crowd. As she began her usual mic entrance, she made to correct herself from “the princess of Staten Island” to “the princess of New Jersey”. Peyton Royce came out with her flower gimmick, and as soon as the match started she would hit a move and then sniff the flower.  This happened a couple of times before the ref took away the flower and put it in the corner. This led to Carmella eventually taking the flower and taunting Peyton with it. Carmella won with her headscissors submission.

    Enzo & Big Cass vs. The Vaudevillians

    Biggest pop of the night definitely went to Enzo and Big Cass. These guys are massively over in both NY and NJ, and they should definitely be brought to the main roster in front of one of those crowds. The match was any other Enzo and Big Cass match. Enzo took most of the match, tagged in Cass, and then pinned Aiden with the Rocket launcher.

    Austin Aries vs. Elias Sampson

    Sampson came out to perform a song for the crowd in Asbury about how New Jersey sucked. The hatred that fans possess for Sampson is similar to the way they hate Eva Marie. After a couple of minutes, Austin Aries name appeared on the set as his music hit. The crowd went nuts for Aries. The match was definitely Sampson’s best. Aries had many spots where he could show off his athleticism and ultimately won the match using his discus elbow smash.

    NXT Champion Bayley vs. Eva Marie

    Eva came out first, obviously to very heavy boos. A lot of “you can’t wrestle” chants before the match even started. Bayley came out to another huge reaction from this crowd. This match was a lot better than I expected, which could be credited to Bayley or Eva simply getting better. There were no spots that seemed obviously botched, and it seemed very well thought-out. Bayley hit a Bayley-to-belly out of nowhere for the win.

    Samoa Joe & Baron Corbin vs. NXT Champion Finn Balor & Sami Zayn

    Definitely the best match of the night, which is no shock given the talent involved. A lot of the match involved the heels distracting the ref so the other heel could cheat. Sami had a great spot where the heels were both outside of the ring and he was about to dive onto them, but they both dove out of the way so Sami did a flip back into the center of the ring. The crowd was very happy that Finn was there and wrestling. The finish of the match was interesting. Finn does a blind tag as Sami helluva kicks Corbin (non-legal man) while he’s on the apron. Sami then gives another helluva kick to Joe and Finn gives him the Bloody Sunday for the pin.

    The match was followed by a cute segment where Sami put on Finn’s jacket and acted like him. Then Finn put on Sami’s hoodie and hat. Finn made a subtle dig at Sami by saying in order to dress like him he would need the NXT Championship.